Vocation
by Katus
Summary: Cloud and Tifa decided to go on a vacation along with their former teamates from their daily lives.
1. Chapter 1

It was that time again. As the day came to a close, it was time to close her bar. The toughest job was getting the kids to bed. It should not be a surprise to her. If there are two children living together, they will be contending of another person for space, belongings, or something that seemed a little farfetched to her now. Tifa looked over to the two children right now, who were arguing yet again over something.

"Guys always protect girls. It's….It's kind'a like a tradition! Why do you think people say, _'You are the man of the house!'_ Girls just have to cook and feed us. It is because guys havt'a protect girls. We are tough that way." Denzel said stubbornly.

"Girls do not need guys' help! We can take care of ourselves. Majority of guys cannot cook and think property. We," Marlene pointed to herself, "are the brains of human nature while you," she pointed to Denzel, "are like shields!"

Denzel paused for a slight minute thinking. He seemed like he was trying to come up with a comeback. He stared at her like a rabbit alert of a mammal coming closer to his territory. When Denzel recovered from the malevolent comment he crossed his arms as if it was a barrier that protected him from anymore blows. "…What?"

"What do you mean what? Tell him Tifa," Marlene said just when Tifa opened her mouth to speak.

Tifa closed her mouth and stood still for a couple of seconds to ponder. She looked at Marlene, whose eyes were indomitable like a kid who beat a football player in an arm wrestling contest. She turned to Denzel, who looked like the football player that was defeated.

Tifa took a deep breath before speaking. "Now, both of you have to stop. Neither of you two will be able to succeed without each other's help." The children made an outburst. They made claims of 'I can do this without help.' Tifa held out a finger as a sign to be quite. "Marlene," Tifa said in a stern tone. "You said guys are like shields. Well, you will need that shield to protect you when you are in danger. You were just agreeing with Denzel when you said that."

"Hah!" Denzel shouted.

"And Denzel," Tifa continued. "You said girls just have to cook and feed you. If you do not have that, you will starve and your strength will be gone. You will not be able to protect anyone."

"I can learn to cook!" Denzel exclaimed.

"You missed my point," Tifa said. "Let's put this in another way, let's say you was really sick. Who would take care of you? I am sure Marlene would. Wouldn't that be protecting you?"

Tifa paused to look at both children who were dumbstruck. Tifa changed her tone to be optimistic. "Whether it is physical or mental, you both have your weaknesses and you will both need each other's help at something. And girls can protect guys the same way guys protect girls. You both have your flaws. From working together, you can make up for that weakness and learn from each other. That's what I, Cloud and the rest of our friends did. That is how we were able to succeed. One of the most important things is teamwork. You can do almost anything when working together."

Denzel and Marlene remained speechless for a while. Afterwards, Tifa had them help her clean up the bar. They did not fight anymore, but they tried to avoid eye contact. They did not speak to each other, except for short comments and little whispers.

It was not a lot of work to clean up the bar. Just to whip off a little dust there and move a couple of chairs. They were able to finish their work without a problem.

After they finished, Tifa gave them a snack and put both of them to bed. They both made a claim that they wanted to see Cloud before they went to bed, but she hushed them back to silence. She gave them a kiss goodnight and walked downstairs to wait for the blonde-haired comrade to return. She sat down on a chair and rested her head on the table. Her mind became relaxed and she let her thoughts overcome her. Her thoughts replayed the argument that Denzel and Marlene had earlier. '_How did they get into that anyway?' _She thought.

The argument reminded Tifa of the promise that Cloud made to her when they were kids. He had promised to save Tifa whenever she was in trouble. Her thoughts then drifted off, and she remembered how cute Cloud was when he was a kid. Her thoughts became deeper about Cloud, and she imagined he was right there with her, holding her in his warm arms, kissing her head, and whispering into her ear saying the words that she longed to hear, the words that would make her eyes as bright as the sun rays on a hot spring day. _No wait. This is stupid. I am not a little girl. _She thought.

Just as she finished her thoughts, the door opened slowly. As soon as she heard the door open, her head snapped up. As the door opened wider her heart beat went faster.

"Oh hey Tifa," Cloud said finally when he revealed his entire body through the door.

Tifa had not seen him all day. He was out delivering while she was in the bar. "Erm…hello Cloud," Tifa responded. She hated it when this happened. Every time it happened she felt like she was being immature. She always wanted to slap herself silly.

"The kids went to bed already?" Cloud asked as he put his things away.

"Yeah. They knew you were coming home late so I had them go to sleep." Tifa replied.

Cloud shrugged and said that he was surprised. He left it at that and went to go sit down next to Tifa. He slapped his face softly with his hands. His hands moved upward to his muddled blonde hairdo just to grab it. He stayed in that position for a while. He let go of his hair and put his head down on the table the same as Tifa did earlier.

Tifa sat down right beside him. She was reluctant to lay her head down along with him. She stared down at him as if he was a puppy on her pillow. She wanted to touch his head to release all of the stress he had from today. Instead of touching him, she tried to think of something else that would probably ease the strain. "Would you like something to drink?" She asked.

Cloud let his head lift up a bit just shook his head. Tifa smiled slightly. _It must have been a hard day for him. _She thought. Without another thought she leaned her head against his shoulder. She felt content that she was in this position with Cloud. It was so relaxing. There was no need for words anymore.

While they were in that position, she felt all of stress drip away like water in a rain forest. If she could, she would have given her heart to him right there. But this was the only way she would tell him her feelings, the only way to express herself. She was not brave enough to tell him face to face. Rejection would be too much to bear. But being together like this, without having to worry about things; it was nice. She did not want to risk it, but she did want something more.

Tifa closed her eyes to enjoy the sentiment more. The room was nice and cool, and the objects around were so insufficient that she felt like they were outside in a meadow. It felt like they were quickly healing from mental scars that had cut them deeply. It felt like nothing else mattered except for their moment together, just resting.

Tifa felt him move slightly. Tifa moved to look at him. What she found were green eyes staring deeply into hers. Before she realized what she was doing, her hand reached to his face touching it. '_I…' _She thought. '_Cloud…You're so…Wait. I shouldn't think this. We're…'_ Her thoughts were killed by the action that Cloud took by gently touching her arm.

"Tifa," Cloud said in a whisper that was barely loud enough for Tifa to hear. His stare became deeper. It felt like it was the cause of her heart beating faster. It seemed if he would've stopped staring, her heart would have stopped.

"Clo–" She started but did not finished because of the phone that rang. It seemed strange that something like that would ruin the moment; it was like a small pin popping a balloon the size of a small house.

"I'll get it." Tifa said as she got up. She went towards the phone that popped her balloon.

"Hello," Tifa answered.

"Hi Tifa!"

"Yuffie?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I really do not like this chapter. Everytime I reread I feel I should add more but I do not know what to add. I like everything I write in the beginning but later on it gets crapper. Maybe it is just me. _

Chapter 2:

Cloud slammed his head back on the table again. He crossed his arms around his head like a turtle that went inside its shell. He sighed heavily only to be able smell his own breath and warm the shell that he created. The shell became his own personal world, which he can think and do whatever he wanted to and no one would be there to judge him. But by doing this he felt like a little kid again that was embarrassed and wanted to be alone. That alone made him feel like he really wanted to smack himself.

'_Stupid…' _He said to himself. He reviewed what had happen in his mind like he was going back in time. The whole moment made him a bit bashful, he had lost his control. '_But it's…it…nothing out of the unusual that happened…' _He tried to eager himself on to snap out of his flushed state. Nothing did not happened, but he felt like wanted something to. That's what made him into his flushed state. He wanted something to happen between them. _'No…No I didn't.' _He thought otherwise. He tried to remain cool and precise to reality._ 'Maybe it was the moment…Yeah. It was just that type of moment.' _Slowly, his introverted state went away. He came out of his shell to lift his head a little; just enough for his eyeballs to view what surrounded him.

The bar was clean, like always before he came home. Some of the chairs were upside down and were put to rest on top of the tables. He wished he were a chair. _No matter how hard a person tires, they can never get rid of their emotions…We are inevitably cruse to be hurt and love. _

His thoughts were interrupted by Tifa who was finally off the phone. She sat down next to him as she did early. He looked at her and saw her face showing different set of emotions than a few minutes ago. Her face showed a mixture of doubt and reluctant about something. Did she felt the same way he did? More importantly, were they going to talk about it? '_Talk about what?'_ Cloud thought suddenly. _'What is there to talk about…' _

"Cloud…" Tifa said and Cloud's heart skipped a beat.

Cloud sat up straight and turned his attention to Tifa. He stared at her with an interested face. "What's up?" Cloud said, retracting himself to his shell as he always did when he is afraid that a part of himself was going to slip out in the wrong time.

Tifa slightly chuckle a bit before responding. "Nothing." She sighed and laid her head down on the table staring at Cloud's face. "You are probably tired huh?" Cloud expected her to tell him about the phone call.

"A little bit." He said.

"Just a little bit," Tifa asked with a carious tone. "Do you think you need a break?"

"A break would be nice," Cloud said slowly.

"Yeah, a break would be nice wouldn't it?" Tifa said thoughtfully.

"But who was on the phone?"

Tifa paused for a moment and just smiled. "Yuffie."

"Yuffie? What did she want?"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Erm…a vacation."

_  
A/N: As you can see, I got kind of lazy in the end. Now when I look back to it, I try to find ways to change it. But I cannot think of anyway to. Not to mention I really hate reading my own stuff. I swear I will not do this again!! Well at least not for the next chapter._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/NWell I am kind of behind on my writing. I went to Santa Cruz this weekend and it was fun. I liked being there. I meet some interesting people. But I really wanted to write more. I think I would be able to write this week..but then I will be out of town again the other weekend. Not to mention I have school work to do...ERGH! On with the story._  
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Chapter 3:

"Vacation?" Cloud asked. He shift his body straight and his face became as perplex as a kid who has been told where babies came from. He stared at Tifa for a moment and relay the message that she said in his head. He tried to think why would Yuffie need a vacation but why would Tifa ask those questions. He stopped momentarily to think about what he was going to say but he was beaten.

"She wanted to go on a vacation." She said lazily still staring at him. "And she wanted all of us to join with her."

"All of us?" He asked. There was a certain twist in stomach that made him a bit shaken up. Going somewhere with his friends is not something he would like to do. All he wanted to do was to be alone with Tifa and the kids. He did not want to be bothered. But deep down inside of him, he felt respite. Just to make sure he asked more directly on the subject. He bit his lip for a second and looked at Tifa's face to address the question. There at that moment he realized that Tifa had been studying him closely. She had not released her eyes on him ever since she got off the phone and it felt like he was being tested on what his reaction was going to be. This immediately made him uncomfortable and he looked away from Tifa's big brown piercing eyes.

He looked at her elbow, anything but her face. He felt slightly embarrassed of himself from being this way in this kind of situation but wondered why Tifa was staring at him closely. Now he felt like a little kid yet again. He shouldn't be like this, he shouldn't feel this way. He felt if he kept saying this to himself over and over the feeling would go away and he would feel brave enough to speak out.

Before Cloud finished his ritual to become fearless, Tifa sat up straight on her chair. She no longer was looking at Cloud but towards the side, where the counter was. She quickly rubbed her eyes with her right arm and turned her head towards in front of him. Cloud caught of glimpse of her eyes before she rubbed them. Her eyes showed a bit sadness. Her eyes had water in them. '_What happened,' _he thought. It was his turn to stare and study Tifa's movements and features. He managed to get pass her barrier made the discovery that her eyes were slightly red and it looks like she was holding back her tears.

"I'm sorry." She said. Cloud was taken back. What did she have to be sorry about? She did nothing wrong. Cloud took this time to try to study more about what was the problem and what happen that resulted in to this. He retracted the conversation that they had, when she came back from using the phone, to the point where he felt ashamed of himself. But he couldn't think of anything that could conclude to this. What could he have done?

Cloud kept staring at her but Tifa kept avoiding his stare. She looked towards the ground, to the side, anything from looking into Cloud eyes. It was like if Tifa's eyes would have been in contact to Cloud's eyes, she would have been turn into stone. Cloud shook his head and tried to break the awkward silence by asking her what was wrong.

"What's—"

"You," Tifa said quickly, cutting him off as easily as cutting off cold butter. Her head finally moved up facing him. But she still did not meet his eyes. She stared at his arms. It seemed like she was going slowly to face him, like if she were to face him quickly, it was going to be ghastly for her. "You…do not want to go do you?"

He opened his mouth slightly but closed it once he realized he did not know actually what to say. What made her come to this conclusion? It is true that he did not want to go, but why would it affect her like this? His heart was beating steadily but he felt that his heart dropped into his stomach. He cut his stare from Tifa and looked towards his feet.

"Tifa, what made you say that…?" Cloud said slowly.

"Cloud…" She said. "I don't want you…" She stopped. She lifted her head up towards Cloud face, finally. But it was not the kind of face that Cloud expected for her to show. She was smiling. It was a small smile, but it was optimistic. Her eyes were the same as her smile. It was a bit dreadful for Cloud to see her like this. For as long as Cloud known her, he never really liked when she did this. It was helpful in some cases, but not if you can see right past of the confident hopeful attitude.

Tifa moved her hand to touch his. Her touch was warm and soft. The feeling was congenial. With her touch, Cloud felt his heart burst out of his chest and land on Tifa's hand. He could trust Tifa with his heart will not be harm. But before he could really enjoy the feeling, he remembered that this was not the time to feel content, but to figure out what was wrong. "You do not need to go if you do not want to." She said.

Cloud felt that he was on the spot again. Cloud looked towards the ground not being able to contain the feeling Tifa was putting him in. "What made you think that way?"

"The way you look." Tifa said simply. "When I said that she wanted all of us to join her, you couldn't even look at me anymore…" At every word she released out of her mouth, Cloud could tell more and more that she was a bit sad no matter how optimistic her tone was.

"No.." Cloud said. "I'll go. I'm ok with it."

Tifa face became confused. "What? Are you sure?"

"…Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/NYeah, I had a writer's block. At first I felt I should discontinue the story but something kept calling back to write this. My GF inspire me to keep writing by writing a fic on her own. The Sweet Sunshine thing. Anyway, new chapter!_

Chapter 4:

The week went by a bit slower than usual for Cloud. With all the preparation of going on the trip, Cloud began to think more and more at the decision he made. '_Yeah,'_ Cloud thought lying on his bed. He could not tell if he was mad at himself, mad at situation or mad at all. He stared at the ceiling of his room like he was lying down on grass watching clouds in the sky flow by. His mind wondered from Tifa, to the kids, to the trip, to himself. '_Why does Tifa wants to go?' _He already knew the answer but it did not stop him from asking futile questions. _'Why did she get so worked up like that when I did not even said that I did not want to go? It's not like I don't want to see them but….I just…' _

He stumbled at the exact reason why. But he could not finish his thoughts to his standard when he heard his phone rang. He looked towards the phone that was on the floor and began to think whatever he would answer it or not. In the end he let it ring to the answering machine. He really did not want to be bothered by anyone.

He covered his hands over his face and let out a sigh. Both his head and his stomach were in pain. "Oh man," He said out loud as if letting the pain escape through his month. He heard his phone rang again and like before, he didn't bother to pick up. But out of ennui, he decided to guess who was calling him. Yuffie and Barret faces came up in his head.

He sighed slightly and tried to continue his thoughts in regarding the state he placed himself in. The more he tried to think about it, the more he felt depress and confused. He groaned over the effects of the situation. He tried to think of something to do, so he picked up his phone to listen to the voicemail.

_beep _

_"Hey skinny! This is _Barret_! I want ya to do me a favor! I want ya ta bring my deck of cards! We're going to play when we all meet up together! Don't forget! And tell Marlene I said hi!" _

_beep   
_

_'I was right about _Barret_,' _Cloud thought. He shook his head and put that on his mental note, _to do list._

_beep _

_"Hey former leader, this is Cid. Just callin' to tell you that you and Tifa we'll be the last ones we're going to pick up." _

_beep _

_'One out of two,' _Cloud thought.

As the day went by, so did his thoughts and depression but he remained clam and quiet like he was normally. When it was time for dinner, they all gather up. The children were excited about the trip, talking about what they were going to do. He wanted to groan from witnessing the children excitement about the trip. He did not blame them, but it was constantly reminding him of it.

Without really paying attention to what he was doing, he turned his head towards Tifa and caught a glimpse of Tifa eyes gazing towards him. With that slight glimpse, he had a feeling that Tifa thought something was wrong. He thought it was something about his hair. '_Is it messy? No…it's always messy.' _Cloud wanted to shrug it off but he could not. His mind wondered towards the other day when Cloud reluctantly said yes. Did she notice? Would she say anything?

After the dinner, Tifa and Cloud sent the kids to bed. Cloud wanted to take this time alone to talk to Tifa. He wanted to bluntly say that he does not really want to go, but he could not bring himself to say anything. They both went to clean up the bar. Tifa was cleaning the tables while Cloud was cleaning the counter. Through out, they both remain silent. It was a bit awkward for him, knowing that he had to let out what he has been thinking. While cleaning, he wondered if she would say anything. But at the same time, she probably did not know what was wrong, so he should just institute the problem.

He looked at Tifa, opened his mouth but nothing came out. He closed it, and began cleaning again, trying to act natural. He tried to think about what he was going to say if he brought it up. He felt that he was going to hurt her feelings if he said that he did not want to go with them. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more he felt that he should not bring it up.

"Errgh," He groaned out loud without realizing it. When he became conscious of his groan, he cursed himself. He knew Tifa was looking at him but didn't bother to move.

"What happen?" She asked.

Even by her voice, Cloud gets a chill down his spine. His body slightly shook over of what he thought was sweet voice. He hoped she did not notice. "Nothing," Cloud said. Without looking at Tifa, he felt that it his answer did not please her. He tried to think of an excuse but could not. "…It's nothing." He repeated the lie again, as if trying to make himself to believe than her.

It did not help the conversation any better. Soon it was quiet again.

"Oh by the way," Tifa said breaking the silence as she grab a seat on a chair. "Cid called me, he said he was going to pick us up last."

"I know." He responded.

"Oh really? How?"

"He called me." Cloud said.

All of sudden Cloud felt like he wanted to be alone. The mention of Cid just got him really worked up. He did not turn to face Tifa. He felt like staying in the position he was in, it will keep a border between them. It was strange how his feelings change from a simple reminder.

"Cloud," He heard Tifa called his name. And by the tone of her voice he knew it was his cue to turn away regardless of what he felt.

_A/NI did not intend to end the chapter like this but I figure this way would be the best way to end it. I'm going pretty slow though. I hope you liked it. Feel free to review and tell me you didn't like about it and what you like. _


End file.
